Preliminary studies by the principal investigator have led to the isolation and partial characterization of sheep genomic clones which contain portions of the elastin gene within 30 kilobases of DNA. It is proposed that this finding can be used to describe the primary structure of elastin and its gene and further to understand the nature of the protein, its evolution, and control of elastin production. Subcloning of restriction fragments of elastin genomic clones in both bacterial plasmids and bacteriophage M13 will allow a rapid accumulation of computer-analyzed DNA sequence information. Subcloned exon and intron regions will be used in hybridization studies to identify (1) the remainder of the sheep elastin gene; (2) the steps in maturation of elastin mRNA; (3) corresponding human elastin genes in recombinant "libraries", and (4) DNA restriction fragment size polymorphisms in human elastic tissue diseases. Because of the genomic nature of these cloned DNAs, detailed analysis of transcriptional regulation are feasible. In addition, identification of 5' and 3' flanking regions will likely define regulatory regions which are associated with the control of elastin transcription. Our principal goals are therefore to describe elastin genes with the aim of understanding their regulation in development and disease and the structural details of information transfer from gene to protein.